Spider-Man made history last month in Captain America: Civil War by being the first character to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose movie rights were not owned by Marvel Studios. To avoid going bankrupt in the ’90s, Marvel Comics sold these rights to companies like Sony (Spider-Man) and 20th Century Fox (X-Men, Fantastic Four). Since then, Marvel launched their own movie studio and wowed the world by turning heroes like Iron Man and Captain America into some of the biggest franchises on the planet.
For a long time, it looked like sharing character rights between studios was too big a hurdle to leap. While fans long dreamed that, like the comics, all their favorite heroes would share the screen together, this only recently seemed like it could ever be a reality. Then Sony re-(re)booted their Spider-Man franchise in a groundbreaking deal with Marvel, and now anything seems possible.
Comicbook.com reported on a panel this weekend at Wizard World Philadelphia, where a few of Marvel’s finest were asked who they’d like to team up with in Avengers: Infinity War. Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier, was the first to answer: “Looks like it’s time to get back some of those X-Men. Somebody out there is thinking about that, I bet.” He then claimed his pick, “Mystique. We need that Mystique.”
Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson a.k.a. The Falcon, immediately added his pick: “Halle Barry. She could be Wolverine. She could be Cyclops. She could be whoever she wants.” Chris Evans, who stars as the franchise leader Steve Rodgers a.k.a. Captain America, followed, “I’d love to work with Fassbender because he’s Fassbender. Him and McAvoy, one of those guys would be great to work with.” When the interviewer reminded Evans of his love of Deadpool, Mackie interjected, “Halle Berry.”
While Screen Rant has previously discussed rumored partnerships between Marvel and Fox, nothing has solidified publicly about the matter. That said, with the critical and box office disaster of Fantastic Four in 2015 and X-Men: Apocalypse’s box office currently tracking below its predecessor, Days of Future Past, it seems possible that Fox may be at least considering the shot of adrenaline that a Marvel Studios partnership might have on their franchises.
Despite the complication that an X-Men reboot or universe crossover might have on the MCU’s timeline, there are likely few Marvel fans who wouldn’t be overjoyed to see their favorite heroes team up to take on the Mad Titan Thanos. Then again, with jokes about 67 characters on the drawing board for Infinity War, it’s always possible that too much of a good thing could backfire. It would certainly be a disappointment if anticipated newcomers like Black Panther or Captain Marvel got the shaft just so Wolverine could get more screen-time.
Next: Chris Evans Wants Captain America Cameos in Spider-Man Movies
Captain America: Civil War is in theaters now. Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.
X-Men: Apocalypse is now playing in theaters. Wolverine 3 opens in U.S. theaters on March 3rd, 2017, followed by unannounced X-Men films on October 6th, 2017 (possibly Gambit), March 2nd, 2018 (possibly Deadpool 2), and June 29th, 2018 (possibly New Mutants). X-Force is also in development.
Source: ComicBook.com
